A rainbow is seen over a neighbor hood during a wind and rain storm on Friday Dec. 21, 2012 in Troy, N.Y. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union)

A rainbow is seen over a neighbor hood during a wind and rain storm...

Trees and wires came down during a wind and rain storm and caused part of Rt. 66 to close near Crystal Lake Road on Friday Dec. 21, 2012 in Averill Park, N.Y. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union)

Trees and wires came down during a wind and rain storm and caused...

Trees and wires came down during a wind and rain storm and caused part of Rt. 66 to close near Crystal Lake Road on Friday Dec. 21, 2012 in Averill Park, N.Y. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union)

Trees and wires came down during a wind and rain storm and caused...

Uprooted trees in the front yard of Jon Hall's house on the corner of Gettle Rd. old Rt. 66 near Crystal on Friday Dec. 21, 2012 in Averill Park, N.Y. A storm that brought rain and high winds cause major damage in this area. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union)

Uprooted trees in the front yard of Jon Hall's house on the corner...

Uprooted trees in the backyard of Jon Hall's house on the corner of Gettle Rd. old Rt. 66 near Crystal on Friday Dec. 21, 2012 in Averill Park, N.Y. A storm that brought rain and high winds cause major damage in this area. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union)

Uprooted trees in the backyard of Jon Hall's house on the corner of...

Uprooted trees in the front yard of Jon Hall's house on the corner of Gettle Rd. old Rt. 66 near Crystal on Friday Dec. 21, 2012 in Averill Park, N.Y. A storm that brought rain and high winds cause major damage in this area. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union)

Uprooted trees in the front yard of Jon Hall's house on the corner...

Jon Hall stands next to some unrooted trees in the back yard of his house on the corner of Gettle Rd. old Rt. 66 near Crystal on Friday Dec. 21, 2012 in Averill Park, N.Y. A storm that brought rain and high winds cause major damage in this area. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union)

Jon Hall stands next to some unrooted trees in the back yard of his...

A Christmas tree display is damaged from high winds and rain on Friday Dec. 21, 2012 in Averill Park, N.Y. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union)

A Christmas tree display is damaged from high winds and rain on...

A sign near the Averill Park High School is turned over from high winds on Friday Dec. 21, 2012 in Averill Park, N.Y. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union)

A sign near the Averill Park High School is turned over from high...

Friday?s strong winds uprooted this tree which landed on home at 5 Allen Avenue in Averill Park, N.Y., Dec. 21, 2012. Wind damage was prevalent throughout Rensselaer County and the Capital Region. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union)

Friday?s strong winds uprooted this tree which landed on home at 5...

A tree fell on a home from high winds and rain on Friday Dec. 21, 2012 in Averill Park, N.Y. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union)

A tree fell on a home from high winds and rain on Friday Dec. 21,...

Mark Cusack looks at a tree that fell on his fence from high winds and rain on Friday Dec. 21, 2012 in Averill Park, N.Y. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union)

Mark Cusack looks at a tree that fell on his fence from high winds...

Uprooted trees along a driveway from high winds and rain on Friday Dec. 21, 2012 in Averill Park, N.Y. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union)

Uprooted trees along a driveway from high winds and rain on Friday...

Part of a road is closed due to a down wire and tree from high winds and rain on Friday Dec. 21, 2012 in West Sand Lake, N.Y. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union)

Part of a road is closed due to a down wire and tree from high...

Part of Springer Rd is closed due to a down wire and tree from high winds and rain on Friday Dec. 21, 2012 in West Sand Lake, N.Y. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union)

Part of Springer Rd is closed due to a down wire and tree from high...

A rainbow is seen during a wind and rain storm on Friday Dec. 21, 2012 in Troy, N.Y. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union)

High winds blew through some areas in the Capital Region Friday morning, downing trees and power lines, canceling flights at Albany International Airport and forcing early dismissal of a school after its roof was damaged.

The storm, which tracked into the region from the Midwest after pummeling the Chicago area, brought heavy rain to points west of the Hudson River and damaging winds to areas east.

In Albany, 0.54 inches of rain was recorded at the airport and the highest wind gust there was 45 mph, according to National Weather Service data. Both the rain and the peak winds were stronger than what Albany saw during Superstorm Sandy on Oct. 29, when 0.13 inches of rain fell and the strongest wind gust at the airport was 43 mph, numbers showed.

The strongest winds seen in the Capital Region Friday were in Rensselaer County, where a 62 mph gust was recorded in Wynantskill. County 911 dispatchers fielded more than 400 calls, County Executive Kathleen Jimino said. Guilderland saw the most rain with 1.51 inches, according to Brian Frugis, weather service meteorologist.

As of 8:30 p.m. Friday, a combined 8,913 National Grid and New York State Electric and Gas Corp. customers in the area had no power. Most outages were in Rensselaer County, which still had more than 4,000 outages. Nearly 2,500 customers of both utilities were still blacked out in Washington County. In Albany County, 246 National Grid customers were without power, and in Columbia County 1,850 NYSEG customers were without power Friday night.

Spokesman Patrick Stella said National Grid has had extra crews on duty since Thursday night in hopes of repairing damage quickly. All power should be back up and running by Saturday evening, he said.

A NYSEG update Friday night said some households and businesses could be without power until Sunday.

High winds tore off a 50-foot section of the rubber roof at Goff Middle School in East Greenbush about 9:30 a.m. The roof hung over the side like a tarp and pieces of foam and insulation were scattered around the school grounds and parking lot.

"I heard cracking," said sixth-grader Natalie Johnson, who was participating in a class party to celebrate finishing the book "Because of Winn Dixie."

The roof damage occurred in the "red house," the wing where sixth-graders have classes. Students were told to leave everything behind and evacuate to the gym. No one was injured, the school district said.

School officials dismissed students at 10:30 a.m. as a precaution. All students were taken home by bus and parents were told not to show up at the school.

"I'm one of those unprepared parents who didn't have an evacuation plan," said Natalie's mom, Ruth Johnson. The school allowed Johnson to pick up her daughter.

East Greenbush Fire Department trucks blocked entrances to the school parking lot; only buses were allowed in or out. An ambulance was stationed at the school.

"At the end of this exercise, although the building was damaged, all occupants were safely removed and there were no injuries reported," said Police Chief Christopher P. Lavin. The district's website said students and parents can't collect belongings left behind in the evacuation until Thursday.

At Albany International, Cape Air, which flies nine-passenger propeller-driven aircraft, canceled much of its service, with only its Friday evening departure to Boston scheduled to operate, according to the airport's arrivals and departures board. United delayed one flight and canceled another. Delta delayed three flights.

Frugis said the storm will usher in cold weather into Christmas. Though temperatures will drop to the 30s, there's a chance the front will bring some snow for the holiday. A light snow may fall Christmas Eve into Christmas morning, Frugis said.